Canadian Inuit women’s organization slams federal government

“I cannot understand how in 2016 we are still not being included in our own right as full participants in these historic opportunities,” says Rebecca Kudloo, president of Pauktuutit, Canada’s Inuit women’s organization. (Eye on the Arctic)

The president of Canada’s Inuit women’s organization is slamming the federal government over its handling of the upcoming National Inquiry into Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and Girls after a list of possible commissioners was leaked last week, with no Inuk named among them.

“As Inuit women, most of us live in regions with the highest rates of violence in the country,” Pauktuutit president Rebecca Kudloo said in a statement released on Friday. “I cannot understand how in 2016 we are still not being included in our own right as full participants in these historic opportunities.”

Canadian newspaper The Globe and Mail reported last week that the five possible inquiry commissioners included: Marion Buller, a First Nations judge in the western Canadian province of British Columbia; former Native Women’s Association of Canada (NWAC) president Michèle Audette; Marilyn Poitras, a Métis law professor at the University of Saskatchewan; Qajaq Robinson, a lawyer who grew up in Nunavut; and a First Nations lawyer who served on the Human Rights Tribunal of Ontario but who went unnamed in the report.

Kudloo stressed that Qajaq Robinson from Nunavut is an accomplished lawyer but that by choosing her, the government was excluding Inuit from issues that directly affect them as has happend in the past.

The Truth and Reconciliation Commission, which looked at the legacy of residential schools in Canada, wrapped up in 2015 and didn’t have an Inuk commissioner either and the 94 recommendations that came out of it mostly concerned First Nations, Kudloo said.

“Once again, we’re going to have a non-Inuk speaking for us,” she told Eye on the Arctic in a phone interview on Monday. “We want to be at the forefront of this inquiry, not working in the background. Again.”

Facing violence against indigenous women

Elisapee Sheutiapik, former mayor of the Arctic Canadian city of Iqaluit holds a photo of Mary Ann Birmingham, who was 15 when she was murdered in Iqaluit in 1986. Sheutiapik was at the National Roundtable on Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and Girls in Ottawa on Friday, Feb. 27, 2015. (Justin Tang/The Canadian Press)

Indigenous families and organizations have pushed for an inquiry for years as a way to force the country to confront violence against indigenous women and examine whether their cases are effectively investigated by law enforcement.

During the pre-consultation process for the inquiry, Pauktuutit recommended that two Inuit commissioners be included: one woman and one man. However, if only one Inuk commissioner could be named, Pauktuutit said it should be a woman.

To see no Inuk on the list is a blow to the Inuit women of Canada, Pauktuutit said.

“We have worked diligently as diplomats and negotiators, as is our way as Inuit,” Kudloo said in her statement. “We have been feeling increasing pressure from many Inuit to update them on the inquiry. We now feel we have no choice but to make a public statement about our concerns as a national indigenous women’s organization and on behalf of all Inuit women in Canada.”

Need to examine Inuit-specific issues

Canada’s Minister of Justice and Attorney General of Canada Jody Wilson-Raybould looks on as Minister of Indigenous and Northern Affairs Carolyn Bennett responds to a question in December 2015 during an announcement about the Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women inquiry. (Adrian Wyld/The Canadian Press)

Canada’s Liberal Prime Minister Justin Trudeau was elected in 2015 and campaigned on a promise of reconciliation with Canada’s aboriginal population and the launch of the inquiry.

Although Canada’s First Nations, Métis and Inuit share a common history when it comes to the experience of colonization and residential schools in the country; their individual cultures, issues and political aspirations are extremely varied. Despite this,when First Nations, Métis and Inuit concerns become part of the national conversation they are often grouped together by media and politicians.

The four Inuit regions of Canada are found in the most remote and inaccessible parts of the country where there are few resources or social services and where violence against women most often comes from family members and domestic partners. Since talk of the inquiry began, everyone from PauktuutittoTerry Audla, the former president of Canada’s National Inuit Association, Inuit Tapiriit Kanatami (ITK), has stressed the need for an Inuit-specific approach when it comes to violence against women in the Arctic.

Eilís Quinn, Eye on the Arctic

Eilís Quinn is a journalist and manages Radio Canada International’s Eye on the Arctic news cooperation project.
Eilís has reported from the Arctic regions of all eight circumpolar countries and has produced numerous documentary and multimedia series about climate change and the issues facing Indigenous peoples in the North.
Her investigative report "Death in the Arctic: A community grieves, a father fights for change," about the violent death of Robert Adams, a 19-year-old Inuk man from Arctic Quebec, received an honourable mention for excellence in reporting on violence and trauma at the 2019 Dart Awards in New York City.
Her multimedia project on the health challenges in the Canadian Arctic, "Bridging the Divide," was a finalist at the 2012 Webby Awards.
Eilís has worked for media organizations in Canada and the United States and as a TV host for the Discovery/BBC Worldwide series "Best in China."
Twitter: @Arctic_EQ
Email: eilis.quinn(at)cbc.ca

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